elections

Salt Lake County mayoral candidate Ben McAdams lays out his plans to fix the county’s inefficiencies, an interim committee at the legislature looks at banning smoking in cars with children, and I-15 gets a little faster.

As the Democratic National Convention kicks off today in Charlotte, North Carolina, organizers didn’t expect any congressional candidates from Utah to come. But, Senate candidate Scott Howell is participating after a last minute invitation.

Howell wasn’t planning on attending the convention because of campaign issues back home. But when he was asked last weekend to be a panelist at the DNC’s Faith Council meeting, he felt compelled to attend.

New data from the Utah Department of Health shows the number of uninsured people is on the rise, the Jordan School District implements a new policy for selecting school plays, and Dan Bammes speaks to biologist Alison Jones about Utah’s plan to protect the state’s sage grouse population.

Seegmiller held a press conference where he broke down what he believes would be a solution for the nation’s economy. He says his 3-2-1 could create up to 3 million new jobs, add 2 trillion dollars in private investment capital and give tax incentives for companies that set up domestically. Seegmiller says his Republican opponent Chris Stewart has a plan that could further damage the economy.

Republican Congressional candidate Mia Love speaks at the Republican National Convention, her opponent Congressman Jim Matheson makes a speech of his own in Salt Lake, and Immigrant advocacy groups are holding deferred action status workshops around the state.

Utah Congressman Jim Matheson spoke out today against his opponent Mia Love’s support for downsizing or abolishing the U-S Department of Education. The Democratic incumbent held a press conference at Salt Lake Community College.

Matheson brought along two University of Utah students to speak about the importance of college grants and loans, which come from the U-S Department of Education. The congressman told the crowd that if Mia Love had her way, those federal programs would cease to exist.

Saratoga Springs Mayor and Utah Congressional Candidate Mia Love took the stage last night at the GOP National Convention.

A video montage showcasing Love as a mayor and mother preceded her speech. Her speech was brief. Love spoke for just under four minutes, but she quickly invoked the story of her Haitian immigrant parents and what they taught her about American values.

"So the America I grew up knowing was centered in self-reliance and filled with the possibilities of living the American dream," she says.

Senator Orrin Hatch won the Utah Republican primary, and spent 10 million dollars in the process. Now, Democratic challenger Scott Howell aims to turn that money against the incumbent Senator. Howell says Hatch’s significant campaign war chest is not a problem for him. It’s a problem for the people of Utah.

“When you see that big money, that drives the behavior that we’ve seen in Washington DC, that gives loopholes to businesses and industries that have access that you and I don’t,” said Howell, “We’re going to end that in this campaign.”

The KUER News team spent last night covering the biggest races in the GOP Primary Elections. We sent reporters and interns to election night events across the Salt Lake Valley and they used our new twitter account, @KUERnews, to keep you updated throughout the night of the latest results and to help give you a broader view of each candidates thoughts.

In Utah’s GOP Primary elections, Senator Orrin Hatch easily defeats Dan Liljenquist, the Salt Lake County Mayor’s race is too close to call, and the Wood Hollow wildfire continues to burn uncontained. All that and more in today's News Pod.

John Swallow defeated Sean Reyes in the Republican primary for Utah Attorney General last night. Swallow is the current Chief Deputy Attorney General and will face Weber County Attorney Dee Smith in the general election.

The race took an ugly turn when ads attacking Reyes’ background aired in the weeks leading up to the primary. Reyes’ campaign in turn issued a rarely successful cease and desist order to remove the ads from television. Despite the negative campaigning and lost election, Reyes explained how he felt about the last two weeks.

Senator Orrin Hatch won the GOP Primary Tuesday night, defeating former state senator Dan Liljenquist with more than 60 percent of the vote after a campaign stoked by anti-incumbent sentiment. Hatch told supporters at his election night gathering that he was relieved that the primary is behind him.

"You know I’ve learned that you can’t take anything for granted. No matter how good you are, no matter how much you’ve done. There’s always going to be somebody who's going to find fault with you and I think that’s kind of good in some ways," Hatch said.

Utahns head to the polls for state primary elections, local and state political and civic leaders react to the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling on Arizona's immigration law, and multiple fires continue to burn throughout the state.

The Tea Party revolution swept through Utah in 2010, when conservative favorite Mike Lee ousted three-term Republican Sen. Bob Bennett at the state party convention.

Perhaps the person watching the upset closest that day was Utah's longest-serving senator, Orrin Hatch. Now 78, Hatch is trying to keep his job in an anti-incumbent atmosphere that led to the defeat last month of his colleague Richard Lugar of Indiana.

Utah’s revenue projections appear to be on target, the Department of Corrections is worried about overcrowding, and Democratic Gubernatorial candidate Peter Cooke calls for ethics reform. That and more on today's News Pod.

States are awaiting a decision from the US Supreme Court on provisions of the Affordable Care Act,which will require all Americans to purchase health insurance or face a fine. But Utah’s Republican Senator Orrin Hatch is vowing to repeal the law, regardless of the court’s decision. Hatch and Wyoming Senator John Barrasso spoke at a meeting of the Salt Lake Chamber’s Health Reform Task Force Wednesday morning.